CARY, N.C. — January 29, 2007 — A highly competitive Visionary Awards competition, four days of presentations by well-known business speakers and industry networking opportunities highlighted the successful VISION 2007 Consumer Products Conference, held January 21-24 in Denver.

INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, organizer of the annual event has brought together companies from both the consumer products and engineered fabrics industries for the past six years, reports that almost 300 attendees from around the world converged on the Mile High City for the event.

“VISION 2007 was once again the best place for executives from the nonwovens and consumer products industry to get together for a few days of learning, networking and meetings,” said INDA president Rory Holmes. “The quality of the speakers and attendees will make VISION 2007 one of the best industry events of the year. Each speaker’s subject was directly applicable to every company present.”

The highlight of the Conference was the selection of Tyco Healthcare Retail Group’s Swim Pants as the recipient of the 2007 Visionary Award. VISION 2007 attendees heard presentations from all of the finalists and selected the Swim Pants over five other nominated products — Cotton Feminine Hygiene Products, Corman Italy; Cool2Go Insulating Wrap, DuPont; Johnson’s Baby Extracare Wipes, Johnson & Johnson Europe; Petsleeves Petwear, Petsleeves; and Pampers Cruisers, Procter & Gamble.

“The voting for the recipient of the 2007 Visionary Award was by far the closest in the six-year history of the award, an indication of the quality of the six nominated finalists,” said Michael Jacobsen, Visionary Award project coordinator. “The Tyco Swim Pants were selected over five other extremely deserving and successful consumer products from some of the biggest names in the business.”

Jacobsen pointed out that this year was the first time two European products – Corman’s Cotton Feminine Hygiene Products and Johnson & Johnson Europe’s Baby Extracare Wipes – were nominated as finalists. “This is an example of the global reach of our industry and, of course, of the VISION Consumer Products Conference,” he said.

Among the other highlights of VISION 2007 in Denver:

In a unique three-part Opening Day presentation, John Brandt, of the MPI Group, led attendees in a discussion titled, “It’s All About the Consumer.” The importance of learning about and then focusing efforts on the targeted consumer cannot be overstated, Brandt says, and it is vital for suppliers to the consumer products industry know what the ultimate consumer is demanding in her products.

Applying modern consumer products marketing techniques to the political process is the future of the elections in this country, according to Dave Mills, a political consultant and deputy director of the Kaine for Governor Committee.

Ken Schmidt, former director of communications for Harley-Davidson, made some noise with an entertaining presentation on how Harley-Davidson rose from the depths to become one of America’s iconic brands.

Three well-respected speakers – Bob Dennett, Chemical Market Associates, “Polypropylene: Global Economic Forecast”; Valkunth Gupta, Panum Corp., “Hot Spot: India”; and Edwin Nichols, Nichols & Associates, “Thriving in the Global Marketplace”, focused on understanding and taking advantage of the worldwide opportunities in the nonwovens and consumer products industries.

The final morning session was led by “Internet icon” Ze Frank, who helped attendees understand and cope with their “Innovation and Acceleration Anxiety” in today’s fast-moving technical environment.

Two evening receptions featured tabletop displays from more than two dozen industry suppliers and provided a backdrop for unparalleled networking opportunities for VISION attendees.

The date and location of the VISION 2008 Consumer Products Conference will be announced soon. For more information: www.inda.org.